[4.6.1] Why does Unity need Android API 21 for build?

Questions & Answers
1

I have latest Android SDK (24.0.2) installed. I have API 10 installed. So everything matches Unity requirements.
I have custom AndroidManifest file with minSdkVersion=10 and targetSdkVersion=10

But everytime I try to build apk I get an error saying “Android SDK is missing required platform api. Minimum platform required is Android 5.0 (API level 21)”.

Why does it do that? It didn’t before and I successfully built my apk without API 21 installed. What changed? Is it Unity requirement or is it Android SDK requirement?

2

As you might already know, API 21 is needed to support Android 5. It appears to be a design decision, since it is mention as a “Fix” in the release notes of 4.6.1 (see 16th item from top of “FIXES”):

http://unity3d.com/unity/whats-new/unity-4.6.1

i.e. “Android: Updated SDK and JDK requirements to match Android 5.0.”

See also: